the executable (ensure you have the latest DirectX/Runtimes installed).

“Temporarily,” Jessa said. She let the word hang like a gull over the surf.

The wind off the gulf was a thin, salt-cold blade that sliced through the hood of Jessa’s jacket. She stood at the edge of the public beach where the municipal jetty arced into the water—an ugly, concrete scar against the wide bright horizon—and watched the sunset smear blood and gold across the surf. The pickup idled two car-lengths behind her, tailgate down, weathered stickers on the rear window spelling out an allegiance she didn’t share. Someone had left a cooler half-buried in the sand. Music thumped faintly through the cab. No one in sight but them.